Chapter 5: For the Girls A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update ^_^
Serena woke up early the next morning; she glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that it was 6:00 AM. Never before in her life had she woken up that early by herself. Rolling back over to a more relaxed position, she figured she could get a few more hours sleep. After a couple minutes, her bed grew more uncomfortable by the second. Looked like the world didn't want her to sleep in today.
She rolled out bed with an exasperated sigh. While rubbing her eyes, she headed towards her dresser to put on a pair of fresh clothes.
Might as well take a shower and head somewhere, she thought. The house didn't accommodate her mood, maybe would head over to Raye's. She was always up this early doing chores something like that. Serena picked out a sky-blue tank top and a pair of jeans to wear and then progressed towards the bathroom. She stripped to herself and ran the hot water. While undoing the buns atop her head, she stepped in her steamy refuge.
The hot water and steam provided much consolation to her aching body, but did little to her aching heart. After she finished saturating herself in the soaking haven, she stepped out and dried herself off. The cool air assaulted her skin and immediately goose bumps became visible. She smiled at the sight; she remembered that only another person's touch had the same effect as the cold air surrounding her sweltering skin. Blood rushed to her cheeks.
I shouldn't be thinking like that…not anymore, she thought with a sigh and slipped her outfit on.
After completing her toiletries, Serena headed downstairs to write a note to her parents about her whereabouts. No one was awake yet and she figured she might as well be considerate. She chuckled, they'd probably freak out at the fact that she was up before any of them instead of her not telling them where she was going. With that done, she walked out and headed towards Raye's temple on Cherry Hill.
The morning was inviting and the sun had crept out of the darkness to shine its radiance all over the city. The sun warmed Serena's face and she smiled. She needed to wake up from her depression. It felt so good to smile again. Why let the cruel efforts of one boy destroy her life? It wasn't worth it, but no matter how many times Serena told herself that, it would never work. She loved Darien, and she just couldn't seem to break herself from him completely, even if it meant leaving her in melancholic misery. She wiped a stray tear from her face and the sun goaded her to beam like it did.
Before long she reached the temple and as usual, found Raye sweeping out front. How she was able to get up so early and do work while she's at it dumbfounded Serena. The idea was so foreign to her.
"Hey Raye," she called out and Raye looked up at her. Her face of contented blankness was soon replaced with once of utter astonishment.
"Serena??? Is that you?? What are doing here at this hour? Do you even realize what time is it??? You should be in bed sleeping," Raye bombarded. Serena's only response was a sheepish smile.
"Serena, how'd you get up this early in the first place?" Raye asked.
"I just woke up somehow and I tried to get back to sleep, I just couldn't," she shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I'm almost done with my chores, so if you help me out, I'll be able to entertain you faster," she suggested. Serena made a contorted face.
"Chores?! Are you joking?" she slacked her shoulders.
"Yes! Unless you want to sit around and be bored with nothing to do, I suggest you help me!"
"Fine, fine whatever you say, just stop whining," she groaned.
A half hour later, a very exhausted Serena collapsed on one of Raye's benches. Raye smiled smugly as she put the mop away.
"I don't think I've ever done so many chores in one morning in my whole life!" she exclaimed as she let out a breath.
"All you did was wash dishes and mop the floor!" Raye shook her head. I guess that's just the way Serena is. She laughed.
"Laugh all you want to, you're used to this," she giggled. Surprisingly, after a few minutes, she found that she wasn't as fatigued as she originally thought. It was 7:15 now and Serena had no idea what to do for the rest of the day. Maybe the rest of the girls could come over and they could gossip for hours like they used to. She missed that; since she'd been with Darien, she had to forfeit the sessions filled with laughter and joy. She felt tears welling up, but suppressed them as hard as she could. The repression was almost painful.
"Serena what's wrong," Raye asked, she was concerned. All of a sudden, the light atmosphere turned very gloomy. Serena composed herself just in time to answer her without one of those awkward pauses.
"I was just wondering what we were going to do for the rest of the day, I mean I know the rest of the girls don't get up till about 8:00 and…" she trailed off.
"I don't know, but I'll call them later, in the meantime, I got a new shipment of mangas yesterday in the mail. If you want to read them while I get ready, you-"she didn't get a chance to finish. Serena darted to Raye's room. She laughed slightly, Serena always did love those mangas.
Darien sat in the kitchen of his apartment and stared out the window. Somehow, the coffee tasted bitter than usual this morning. He could stop thinking about how nasty he was to Serena yesterday. His words were so vicious and hurtful. It caught him off-guard how mean he was capable of being. Serena's mother picked up Rini yesterday evening and the cross look she gave made Darien shudder. Even the memory of it sent chills up his spine in the worst way. She had every reason not to like him now of course. He dumped her only daughter, left her distraught and in tears. Darien could only imagine how Serena's father felt about all of this. It was more than likely that he would murder Darien on the street if given the chance. He wasn't too keen on the idea of Darien and Serena in the first place and now that he broke her heart…
"Knock knock knock," Darien's thoughts were interrupted by someone at the door.
"Come in!" he called out and turned back to his cup of coffee.
"Hey Darien, it's me Andrew," he walked in and sat down next to his friend. "I need a favor Darien. See I promised my cousin Lynn that I'd show her around the city today so she wouldn't get lost so much, but the thing is, I really got to keep the arcade open today so could you do it for me?"
"I can't run the arcade," he started.
"No, I mean showing my cousin around. Please could you do it for me???!" he pleaded. Darien let out an exasperated sigh. He really didn't feel like dealing with a hormone raged teenager again. However, he couldn't help but think how many jams Andrew got him out of and it was only right that he return the favor. Reluctantly, he agreed.
"Ok, I'll do it, what time do I pick her up?" he asked trying to suppress a groan.
"Great! You'll do it! Awesome! Oh…she'll be by the arcade at about 12:00 so just pick her up there. You don't have to spend the whole day with her, just a few hours, if that," he said with a gigantic grin spread across his face. After a few goodbyes, Andrew left and Darien sighed. It was going to be a long day.
It was 12:30 now and the scouts were hanging around in Raye's temple again. Although their conversation was lively and vivacious, the girls decided that they desperately needed something else to do than talk the day away.
"I know, we could go downtown again. I read in the paper that there'll be a world-renowned fortune-teller there. It said that she's been everywhere, including some places in Africa and that she acquired her abilities from everyplace she's visited. Maybe we could get our love fortunes told," Lita suggested with a wink. Raye crossed her arms and gave a strange look. Amy must've seen it.
"You know how a Raye is about those fakes, I don't think it's a good idea," she said, always loyal to her friend. She saw Raye slip a smile in her cross expression.
"Oh it's only going to be for fun and we've got nothing better to do anyway, so come on," Mina defended. "And besides, Raye specializes in important fortunes, and this is only for fun so I don't see why not, it couldn't hurt." Mina could never help slipping in a comment to boosts someone else's ego to get what she wants. That's how she always wins her arguments, she was quite the charmer. Raye's arms slacked and she grinned.
"Well I guess when you put it that way, I guess it couldn't hurt," she said. Mina smiled at her own persuasive victory.
"So are you up for it Serena?" Lita asked.
"Sure why not," she giggled. It would be great to just go out with the girls and have fun. She only prayed that she wouldn't throw a fit of tears or make another scene like the last time they went out. Even though they never said anything, she knew that she ruined their afternoon that time. It would be different though. The day would be perfect and cheerful like the old days.
"Come on girls, what are we waiting for? We can't just stand here all day just thinking about it, let's go," she said.
The girls got downtown at about 1:00 and looked around. It was crowded more than usual. The fortune-teller must've been that popular. While Amy and Raye saved a spot in line for the girls, Mina, Lita, and Serena went to get massive amounts of junk food.
"Oh I can't wait to get my hands on a double cheeseburger," Serena smiled. It's been awhile since she had one of those. They laughed, they giggled, they checked out cute guys. It really seemed that the ambience of the day was they way it was before the horrible breakup. Light and airy, the way it should always be. Serena realized that she really dragged the girls down with her in the break up. She had to find some way to make it up to them. They were such great friends to stick by her side like that.
This day will be just for them, they deserve to lay back and enjoy life, Serena thought with a smile. After getting the junk food, they headed back towards Raye and Amy. While waiting, they could eat their refreshments. After they finished their food and gossiping, they realized that they were not too far from getting their fortunes told.
Raye was the first and amazingly, the teller told her about a growing relationship with a boy who lives with (i.e. Chad) and she blushed the whole time. Mina was told she'd meet a cute boy at school that would join her volleyball team. Amy was told that whatever relationship she was in would flourish beautifully and Lita was told that she would end up with the boy of her dreams if she had the effort to catch him. These of course seemed like the ordinary tellings of a psychic, until she told Serena's.
"You my dear are going through bumps in you relationship. Maybe it'll get better, or maybe worse, but I see those bumps turning into chasms and lack of faith will break you from your beau forever. You will run into many problems trying to get him by your side, but something significant will happen that'll either bring him back or destroy the both of you," was her telling.
"Really? Wow, that's…deep," she said, trying hard to not cry. The day was for the girls today. She couldn't ruin it like that.
"Thanks Fortuna," she said and walked away from the ostentatiously decorated stand.
The girls saw her pain stricken pace and decided not to ask what Fortuna said.
"Hey let's get some ice cream," Mina smiled. Serena lifted her head up.
"Yeah! Good idea!" she cheered and the girls made their way to an ice cream place nearby. Little did they know whom they'd run into.
While standing in line, the girls recognized the leather jacket as Darien's and Serena decided to ignore it. She didn't need him ruining her day. When he was finished with the order, the girls watched him walk over to his motorcycle…with a girl sitting on it. Serena's eyes widened and involuntarily walked over to him.
"Hi Darien I didn't expect to see you here," she said. He turned around and for a split second, Serena could've swore she saw a smile.
"I don't know why I'm here myself, but Lynn here wanted ice cream," he said pointing to the girl on the motorcycle. He hopped on and she put her arms around his waist. The action made Serena cringe with jealousy. Darien didn't just let anyone on his bike.
"Darien who's that?" Serena heard "Lynn" ask. Little did she know that his response would send her world crashing down on her.
"Oh, just some girl, you don't have to worry about her she's not important," he replied, "See ya later meatball head." With that, he drove off with who seemed like his new girlfriend.
The girls stood behind Serena and heard every word Darien said to her. They were utterly disgusted. Sure they knew he was being a jerk, but now they deemed him as the biggest asshole to ever grace Tokyo. Serena clenched her fists. She felt the tears, but she wouldn't let them break the dam of her resolve.
This day is for the girls, don't ruin it now… she kept repeating in her mind. Why did Darien have to refer to her a simply nothing. Was their relationship just that?
Stop Serena, don't lose it. Just don't think about it…
Was it nothing?
Stop it! He's not worth it, remember?
Was Serena's whole world just nothing to him?
This day is for the girls…Was she just a whiny teenage ex-girlfriend to him?
I can't ruin their happiness with this…it's too much.
"Serena, are you ok?" Mina went up and asked. When Serena turned around, even she wasn't aware of the tears decorating her flushed cheeks.
Ok, oh no, here it goes…I can't hold it in anymore…I'm so sorry girls…
"No, I'm not okay!" she wailed. The sobs overtook her and she dropped to her knees. Darien's done it to her yet again and the worst thing was that she let him do this to her. Oh how can she be so weak? The leader of the toughest and most renowned heroes is the biggest crybaby of them all. She's weak, she has no resolve…no wonder Darien dumped her. What was happening to her. She needed a drastic change and fast, or no one would be able to save her from herself.